Reviews of this CD: “Apart from the brilliant technique his performance on this CD displays the lyricism unusual for many Russian musicians. Particularly striking are the pieces by Rachmaninoff for the sheer singing quality and the Blue Danube Waltz which is full of vitality and vigorous, bouncing rhythm.” Musica Nova (Tokyo) “…a splendid CD of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Sonata … It’s a performance showing a penetrating intelligence served by a strong technique.” The Independent (London) About the Artist: Rustem Hayroudinoff studied at the Moscow Conservatory and at the Royal Academy of Music, where he is now a Professor of piano. Apart from this CD, he has recorded for Decca CD compilation, where he featured alongside Mstislav Rostropovich, András Schiff and Maria Joao Pires, and released several CDs on Chandos label. His recordings of Shostakovich’s Theatre Music and the Dvorak Piano Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic were greeted with universal acclaim, garnering praise such as “dazzling and… electrically compelling” (Gramophone) and “utterly magical” (Classic FM) and were selected amongst the Best CDs of the Year by BBC Music and the Gramophone magazines respectively. His CD of the Rachmaninoff Complete Preludes was selected by Classic FM Magazine as a part of the ‘four discs essential Rachmaninoff collection’, alongside the recordings by Arthur Rubinstein and Andre Previn, and the recording of the Complete Etudes-Tableaux by Rachmaninoff became the Instrumental Choice of the Month with the BBC Music Magazine and was nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Best Instrumental CD of the Year Award. It was also selected as the finest version of these pieces on BBC Radio 3’s Building a Library. Rustem Hayroudinoff has performed in the United States, Canada, Japan, his native Russia and Europe. He has performed with such orchestras as the Osaka Century Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and Czech Philharmonic.